


An Unwelcome Blast From The Past

by CoffeeAddict80



Series: Desperate Times... 'verse [25]
Category: Glee
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Slurs, mentions of past bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-08-19
Packaged: 2020-09-07 20:33:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20315605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeAddict80/pseuds/CoffeeAddict80
Summary: ((One-shot in the Desperate Times ‘Verse. You should probably read that story first. This takes place at the end of July during the epilogue))When Blaine & Santana run into an old classmate at a coffee shop in NY, both of them are in for a shock when he unknowingly calls Blaine by the wrong name.





	An Unwelcome Blast From The Past

Blaine took his drink from the barista and found an empty table to sit at. Knowing he was early, he began to read the copy of the _Men’s Health_ magazine he’d purchased at a kiosk on his way to the coffee shop, while he waited for Santana to show up.

Looking up from his magazine a few minutes later, Blaine noticed a man in line to order that was looking over at him curiously. The man looked slightly familiar to him, but Blaine couldn’t pinpoint why that was. He could feel the eyes of the man watching him as he attempted to continue reading his magazine.

Blaine took out his phone and composed a text.

**To Kurt > From Blaine:** I know you’re still in class so you don’t have to respond. But I’m waiting for San at the coffee shop and this guy in line keeps staring at me like he’s trying to figure out how he knows me. I don’t think he recognizes me as Devon though because I think I know him? At least he looks sort of familiar. It’s weird

A moment later he got a response.

**To Blaine > From Kurt:** I was gonna say maybe he’s confused by the hair gel & clothes, but if you think you know him maybe not. BTW my class is almost over. If you want, I can meet you there afterwards? Or do you just want to hang w/San?

**To Kurt > From Blaine:** Please join us! I want to see you too! I forgot you only have one class today or I would have invited you earlier. Also, I had that modeling interview/audition this morning so my hair isn’t as gelled (I’m wearing a hat) & my clothes aren’t my usual style. So I probably look more like Devon than Blaine ATM. And if he knows me as Blaine (like I suspect) that could be why he looks confused

**To Blaine > From Kurt: **Oh that’s right! I forgot about that. How’d it go?

**To Kurt > From Blaine:** Great actually. I’ll tell you about it when you get here. But um, that guy is walking over to my table now. I’ll ttyl

**To Blaine > From Kurt:** Ok

Blaine put his phone away and smiled up at the guy, who was hovering awkwardly next to Blaine’s table, nervously clutching his own coffee.

“Hi,” the man said to Blaine. “I saw you sitting over here, and I couldn’t help but think you look really familiar. This may sound strange, but I was wondering… You wouldn’t happen to be –”

Before the man could finish the rest of his sentence, Santana interrupted. “Hey, munchkin. Did you already buy my drink, or do I have to go wait in that long-ass line myself?”

“Santana?!” the man said, staring at her with wide eyes, as Blaine handed her a $10 bill to pay for her drink.

“Karofsky? What the hell are you doing here?” she asked, taking the money from Blaine.

“Uh…I’m visiting my cousin for a few days. But he’s at work right now, so I’m just exploring New York on my own at the moment,” Karofsky answered. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to have coffee with _him_,” she said, pointing at Blaine.

“No, I mean New York,” he clarified. “I thought Azimio said you were going to school in Kentucky or something?” Karofsky then motioned between her and Blaine. “Wait a sec…you two are, like, friends or whatever? How…?”

“I transferred to NYU after Winter Break. I live here full-time now,” she replied. “And I’ve _always_ been friends with him. I just never let anyone at school know that to protect my reputation. But I stopped caring about that after graduation.” Santana paused and looked back-and-forth between Karofsky and Blaine. “Uh…what did I interrupt anyway?”

Blaine ignored the question and instead replied, “Wait, Karofsky? As in: _David_ Karofsky? Oh, okay! So _that’s_ why you looked so familiar when I saw you standing in line earlier! We went to middle school together. You sat behind me in Mr. Jameson’s study hall.”

“Right, yeah. That’s exactly what I was gonna say when I came over here. I recognized you from middle school,” Karofsky said. “Your, um, your name’s, uh, _Devon_, right?”

The air escaped Blaine’s lungs as he looked at Karofsky in shock. Santana whipped her head around to stare up at him. “Hold up! What did you just call him?” she asked, a mischievous grin on her face.

“Santana, don’t!” Blaine pleaded.

“Oh, no, no, no; don’t you dare try to bargain with me on this one, munchkin,” Santana replied. She looked back over at Karofsky, daring him to answer her. “I believe I just heard you call him ‘Devon’. Why is that? Huh?”

Blaine buried his face in his hands and tried to take deep, calming breaths, while Karofsky struggled to come up with an answer. “Um…I, uh…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered. “Is that not his name?”

“It is _now_,” Santana began. “But back in middle school he went by a different name. So the only way _you’d_ know the name ‘Devon’ is if you are familiar with his…_adult_ career.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Karofsky challenged.

“It means: You. Is. _Gay_,” she said, smirking at him.

“What!? Screw you! I’m not some fairy,” he denied. “I’m a _real_ man. I ain’t no fag!”

Santana began to argue with Karofsky, but Blaine couldn’t make sense of what was being said; his head was spinning, and he was finding it difficult to breathe. He quickly stood up and looked at Santana. “I gotta go,” he mumbled, picking up his magazine and running out of the coffee shop.

\---

On the way back to his apartment, Blaine took out his phone and sent Kurt a text as he ran down the street.

**To Kurt > From Blaine:** CHANGE OF PLANS!!! Went home. Meet me there?

A few seconds later Blaine’s phone rang with an incoming call from Kurt. He struggled to answer the phone and unlock the door to his apartment building at the same time. “Hello?” he finally answered, just before his voicemail could pick up.

“Blaine? Honey? Is everything okay? You sound like you’re out of breath,” Kurt replied, concerned.

“Um…” Blaine said, entering his building. He stopped in the middle of the lobby and looked around at the familiar scenery, taking a few calming breaths. The feeling of safety provided by the homey atmosphere helped to ease his racing mind. “I think so. Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay. I just, um…I had to leave that coffee shop. Oh, that reminds me: _don’t go there_! Please. Please don’t go there. I’m at home now. Can you come over here instead?”

“Did something happen?” Kurt asked. “Was it the guy you saw there? The one you texted me about? Who was he? Did he do something?”

“Can we talk about this once you get to my place?” Blaine asked. “Where are you anyway?”

“I just rounded the corner onto your street,” Kurt told him. “I’ll be at your place in about a minute. But I want you to stay on the line with me until I get there because I don’t like how you sound right now, and I need to make sure you’re okay.”

“Okay,” he agreed. “I actually just got home myself, so I’m still in the lobby. I’ll wait here for you, and then we can go upstairs together. And…and I’m okay now. I am. I’m sorry if I scared you. I didn’t mean to. My anxiety just spiked for a few minutes, but I’m better now.”

“You’re sure?” Kurt asked, waving at Blaine through the window as he walked up the steps to the building.

Blaine rushed over to the door to let him in then hung up his phone. Once they were both safely in the lobby, Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt tightly and buried his face in Kurt’s neck, breathing in his scent. “I’m even better now that you’re here,” he mumbled against Kurt’s skin.

After a moment of just holding Blaine in his arms, Kurt began to gently guide him over to the elevator. “Come on. Let’s go upstairs and you can tell me about what happened.” As they rode the elevator up to the correct floor, Kurt interrupted the quiet to ask, “Did you text Santana yet? To let her know you wouldn’t be at the coffee shop?”

“I didn’t have to,” Blaine replied. “She was there when I left. Arrived a few seconds after that guy approached my table.” He paused the rest of his conversation as they exited the elevator and entered his apartment. Once they were in his bedroom, they got comfortable cuddling on the bed before Blaine continued his story. “That guy at the coffee shop… he looked familiar because he’s from Lima. I went to middle school with him. He came over to the table, told me I looked familiar, then tried to ask me if I was…_someone_; but Santana interrupted before he could get the name out. He _immediately_ recognized her, and when she said his name, I was like ‘oh, yeah, that’s where I know you from; we had study hall together’. _But then…_” he sighed, shaking his head, “he says ‘yeah, I remember that; your name’s Devon, right?’. Of course, Santana latched onto that…she bickered with him for a bit then next thing I know he’s angrily telling her that he’s not a…three-letter f-word that I don’t want to repeat. I just couldn’t be there anymore. I mean, this guy was one of the reasons I went to Dalton instead of McKinley. When we were in study hall together, he’d toss spitballs into my hair, or he’d constantly kick the back of my chair. He wasn’t, like, the _worst_ of the bullies, but he was definitely one of them. And he doesn’t even remember any of that. He doesn’t remember _me_. But he knows who Devon Anders is.”

“What’s his name?” Kurt asked, tentatively.

“Uh…Karofsky. David Karofsky,” Blaine answered.

“Fuck,” Kurt swore under his breath. “I was hoping you weren’t gonna say his name.”

“You know him?” Blaine asked, glancing at Kurt with a puzzled expression. The confusion only lasted a second before he was shaking it off and answering his own question. “Of course you know him. You both went to McKinley. Sometimes I forget we grew up in the same town. But why did you seem like you were expecting it to be _him_ of all people?”

“Do you remember before we did our first movie…” Kurt began, pausing to take a few deep breaths, “I told you about how part of my insecurity around exploring my own sexuality stemmed from being hate-kissed by a closeted bully that threatened to kill me? I’ll give you three guesses who that was.”

“Oh my god…” he replied, in shock. “But I thought Santana knew about that death threat? Why did she seem so surprised by him inadvertently admitting to watching gay porn?”

“She knows about the death threat, but she doesn’t know about the real reason behind it. I never told anyone about that kiss – except you,” Kurt said. “I was afraid of what would happen if anyone found out. And I didn’t want to out him. He was so petrified of anyone finding out… The fear, anger, and hate in his voice… His threat… It didn’t sound like it was just an expression; it seemed _real_. The level of pure terror he was feeling…that type of panic can make people do crazy things. I honestly believed he would follow through with his threat if I said anything. So I just told people that he threatened to kill me if I told anyone he’d been bullying me with locker shoves, slushie facials, name calling, and things like that. Unfortunately, I think omitting the true reason behind the threat made it difficult for people to grasp just how _serious_ that threat really was because most people already knew about him doing those things to me.”

“Sweetie…” Blaine started, cuddling closer to Kurt.

Kurt waved off whatever Blaine was about to say. “No, it’s fine. I mean, obviously what he did was not fine, but _I’m_ fine. I’ve dealt with all of that already. I’ve moved on. I’m okay now. Though, I have to say, I’m honestly not sure how I would have reacted to seeing him myself.” Kurt sat up quickly and looked at Blaine in alarm. “Oh my god. If he knows you’re a porn star, does that mean he knows about me too? Oh god…this is not good. This is not good at all. I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Woah, okay, calm down,” Blaine said, gently. “You only have one porno available online. And it’s only been out for a _month_. He most likely hasn’t seen it. Especially since he seemed really confused about how Santana and I knew each other. If he knew about your career, he probably would have assumed I knew her through you or something, since I’m your costar in that movie and he knows that you and Santana know each other through glee and cheerleading. But your name was never even mentioned. I also think that now that he knows that I know who he is, he’s probably going to steer clear of any of my videos. So, he probably won’t see any of yours either.”

“I have two videos online now,” Kurt corrected, quietly, having calmed down slightly by Blaine’s explanation. “The second one came out two days ago.”

Blaine rolled his eyes then said, “My point is: I don’t see any cause for alarm right now.”

“Yeah, _right now_,” Kurt reiterated. “But what if he does find my videos? I don’t want him seeing me like that. Not after the things he’s done to me. And if you and Santana ran into him today, then there’s a chance that I could run into him in the future – _after_ he’s seen one of those videos – and I don’t know that I’d be able to handle that all that well.”

“He said he’s only visiting,” Blaine told him. “Santana asked him what he was doing here; and he said he’s only in town for a few days to visit his cousin. So he most likely still lives in Ohio. I don’t think you have to worry about running into him any time soon.”

“How did this turn into _you_ trying to comfort _me_ about _your_ run-in with him?” Kurt wondered.

“It’s because I only experienced a minor anxiety spike over my interaction with him at the coffee shop,” Blaine began. “The reason I temporarily freaked out, was because I was thinking about how this guy that used to make fun of me when I was younger was now jacking off to videos of me fucking other guys and _yelling_ at Santana about how he’s not gay. But, sweetie, I started feeling _so_ much better as soon as I was away from him. That whole thing was over before it could turn into something worse.

“Unlike you, Karofsky was never a huge factor in my life. He was just one of dozens of bullies that I dealt with – for stupid, _childish_ things like my height and so-called nerd-status; he never laid a finger on me. I wasn’t pushed around or called slurs. He didn’t assault me – physically or sexually. I wasn’t _tormented_ by him like you were. You had to deal with some really heavy shit because of him. And distancing yourself from the things he put you through…it’s not easy. There’s bound to be some residual feelings brought to the surface when you’re reminded of him.

“Besides,” he continued, smiling softly at Kurt, “focusing on comforting you makes it easier for me to deal with my own anxiety; keeps me from spiraling.”

Kurt chuckled under his breath before responding, “And here I was thinking that _sex_ is what would help get your emotions under control.”

“Baby, if you want to fuck me right now, I am _more_ than okay with that,” Blaine replied, emphatically.

“What if I wanted you to ride me instead?” he asked, hesitantly.

“That can be arranged,” Blaine answered, before giving Kurt a passion-filled kiss.

\---

Blaine lifted himself off of his boyfriend’s naked body and collapsed next to him on the bed, feeling slightly out of breath. After Kurt disposed of his condom, Blaine hooked a leg over Kurt’s hip, then cuddled into his side. “_Damn_, baby; I will never get over how flexible you are. Or how you manage to make me feel like I’ve been thoroughly _ravished_, when I’m the one on top of you.”

Kurt smirked before replying, “And to think, only a few short months ago, I was a virgin.”

“I still have a hard time processing that _I_ was the first person you ever had sex with,” Blaine muttered. “Even when I was ‘teaching’ you about sex…you were fantastic at it.”

Suddenly, Santana’s voice could be heard shouting from the hallway. “Are you two done fucking each other in there yet!”

Kurt motioned for Blaine to grab the blanket to cover them before he let Blaine answer her. “For now!” he shouted back.

Santana threw open the bedroom door and traipsed over to the loveseat. “I tried calling you after you left the coffee shop,” she began, once she was seated. “But you didn’t answer.”

“When did you call? I didn’t hear my phone ring,” Blaine replied, curiously. “Oh, no, wait…I take that back. I did hear it. I was on the phone with Kurt and didn’t want to put him on hold to switch calls. Sorry about that.”

“I figured it was something like that,” she said, waving away his apology. “Are you alright?”

“I am,” Blaine answered, nodding. “I was just spooked by his vehement denial and derogatory name calling. But I’m okay.”

“I take it you told Hummel everything?” she asked.

Blaine nodded again. “I did.”

Santana looked over at Kurt, critically. “Did you know? About Karofsky? That he’s gay?”

“Yeah. I knew,” Kurt answered, solemnly.

“I thought so. He said some stuff after Blainers left that didn’t seem to make much sense – until I thought about it enough. So you knew this whole time? Why didn’t you say anything?” she wondered.

“Because he threatened to kill me!” he cried. Kurt closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened them a moment later, he continued, “And even if he didn’t…I wasn’t going to _out_ him. You remember how upset you were when that pizza guy running for Congress against my dad outed _you_? I couldn’t do that to him. It would have made everything _worse_. For everyone. And that’s even _if_ anyone even believed me.”

“His death threat was to keep you quiet about his sexuality?” Santana replied, shocked. “_Fuck_…no wonder you were so petrified of him after that. I swear I didn’t know.”

“I know you didn’t,” Kurt told her. “Nobody did.”

“Not sure if I really want an answer to this… but how’d you find out?” she asked, warily.

Kurt bit his lip as he debated what to tell her, while Blaine gently kissed Kurt’s temple and caressed his side to reassure him. Releasing a deep, slow breath, he replied, “He kissed me.”

“What!?” she shrieked.

“I was walking down the hall reading something on my phone, and he just walks up and smacks it out of my hand onto the floor for no reason,” he began. “When I saw my screen had shattered, I snapped. I chased him down the hall into the empty locker room. I began yelling at him. He was getting progressively angrier and angrier as my rant went on. I thought he was going to hit me, so I dared him to. I told him that hitting me wouldn’t change a damn thing. I’d still be gay, and he’d still be a moron. Next thing I know he’s got a vice grip on my face and he’s trying to shove his tongue down my throat. I somehow managed to push him away when he went in for a second kiss. He realized what he had done, punched a locker, and ran out of the locker room.

“The next day,” Kurt continued, “he asked if I told anyone what happened. I said I hadn’t, and I wouldn’t. Then he told me, to make sure that I kept my mouth shut, he’d kill me if I said anything. The fear in his eyes over being exposed…I was terrified he’d actually follow through on that. From that day on – at least until he transferred schools – whenever he wasn’t shoving me into lockers, he would just…_leer_ at me. At times, I was more afraid of the looks than anything else; because I was always afraid that the next time he put his hands on me, it wouldn’t be to shove me into a wall of lockers.”

“You should have told us,” Santana told him.

Kurt shook his head. “No. He admitted to Sue that he threatened me; and the schoolboard _still_ overturned his expulsion due to a lack of proof. Going into details about the reason behind that threat…it would have accomplished nothing. Especially since it’d just be my word against his. And he transferred out of McKinley at the end of that semester anyway. So I only had to deal with him for about 2 months after that. Once he was gone, it didn’t matter anymore.”

Santana sighed and rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine. I see your point,” she replied, reluctantly. “Still would have been nice to know. We probably could have protected you better or something. I can’t believe I didn’t notice something like that.”

“I appreciate the thought, but there really was nothing that anyone could do,” Kurt said. “And you had your own problems to worry about back then. Not to mention, I had been trying _so_ hard not to let anyone see how much I was being affected by him. I didn’t want anyone to know how close I was to actually falling apart. I was trying to rise above it all. So I don’t blame you for not noticing what I didn’t want you to see.”

Blaine gently kissed Kurt’s temple again then softly murmured, “You are one of the strongest people I have _ever_ met. I am in awe of your strength, courage, and resilience. But you never have to go through anything like that _alone_ ever again. Okay? Don’t ever think that you can’t rely on others to help you. Your friends love you. Your family loves you. I love you. We’re all here for you. Whenever, wherever, however.”

Kurt turned to face Blaine and smiled at him softly. “I know. Thank you,” he said, quietly, before kissing Blaine sweetly. When the kiss broke, he then spoke louder while glancing over at Santana. “But right now, I think Santana needs to leave because, underneath this blanket, I am very naked and very turned on, and I need to show my man a proper ‘thank you’, if you know what I mean.”

Blaine tore his eyes away from Kurt and gave Santana a half-hearted glare. “Bye, San! See ya later!”

Santana huffed then got up off the loveseat. “Yeah, yeah; alright, I’m leaving.” As she was moving toward the door, she grumbled, “I’ll eventually see it all anyway. Don’t know why you insist on hiding it.”

“Eventually, maybe. But today is not that day,” Kurt told her. “Close the door on your way out!” he called out as soon as she reached the exit.

Once she was out of the room and the door was closed, Kurt rolled himself on top of Blaine and began kissing him passionately.


End file.
